Labor back Liberal/Nationals to vote down Greens motion on gun control

The Senate has voted down a motion put by Greens spokesperson for gun control Senator Lee Rhiannon.

Senator Rhiannon said, “The recently announced gun amnesty is welcome news and it was disappointing that the Coalition and Labor did not demonstrate their commitment to gun law reform by voting in favour of this motion.

“The Greens want to strengthen and maintain the National Firearms Agreement, so that all semi-auto handguns and dangerous rapid fire guns like the Adler shotgun are banned.

“The Liberal, National and Labor parties need to put public safety first and back the gun law reforms that Australia needs,” Senator Rhiannon said.

Full text of the motion:

NOTICE OF MOTION 14 September 2016

I give notice that on the next day of sitting I shall move –

That the Senate –

a)Notes that:

i)a video in circulation violently threatens a high profile gun control advocate;

ii)the individuals in the video have previously been referred to the NSW Police for posting violent videos aimed at racial and religious minorities and the Greens;

iii)former Prime Minister John Howard performed a courageous act in 1996 by pursuing national gun law reform; and

b)Calls on the Federal Government to:

i)maintain and strengthen the National Firearms Agreement;

ii)commit to a ban on the importation and sale of rapid-fire shot guns; and

iii)show leadership on firearms similar to that shown by Mr Howard and work with state governments to have firearms laws amended to provide for the immediate cancellation of a firearms license and surrender of all weapons when a shooter has displayed threatening, intimidating or offensive behaviour associated with their use of firearms.